Practitioner Corner: The Importance of the Gut Microbiome in Healing

As holistic health practitioners, our goal is to educate our patients and clients to help them prevent disease, rather than try to correct an imbalance, like leaky gut.

You may already know that you carry up to 2 kg of microbes in your gut. Within that 2kg, there are at least 1,000 species of bacteria. Approximately two-thirds of the gut microbiome is unique to each individual.

The gut plays a key role in optimizing health, and one of the most important considerations is the quality of your gut flora.

Normal flora gets disrupted by steroids, birth control pills, and antibiotics — both ingested through medication as well as in animal foods. The good bugs in the gut are important for synthesizing vitamins, providing protection from disease, and optimizing digestion.

When normal flora becomes disrupted, it sets the stage for the overgrowth of yeasts, fungi, bacteria, and viruses that can create digestive havoc and lead to nutrient deficiencies and serious disease.

How factors such as diet, stress, antibiotics, and other medications affect the gut microbiome

Diagnostic methods available for providing personalized evaluation of gut health and the gut microbiome throughout an individual’s lifespan

Genova Diagnostics regularly schedule no cost events for health coaches interested in gut health, as well as many other relevant topics.

To become proficient at assessing gut imbalances and guiding your clients to optimize their digestive function takes time and study. Hundreds of health practitioners, including doctors, nurses, health coaches, and nutritionists, have transformed their practices by applying what they learned in my Certified Mastery of the Digestive System program.